stumbled upon this needle in a haystack '91 show -- first of the year, even... bob turned up loud is GREAT, and vinnie's keys and synth work kinda began to define this modern sound.. i LIKE it, plus the sound quality is great. entire show is excellent w/ althea, queen jane, peggy-o, cassidy and new speedway (esp) all excellent... the black peter> sugar mags really pops. was super surprised to stumble on this show, and made my evening :)

Bobby was turned WAY up (which I enjoyed at the time) Vince was solo & low in the PA which I enjoyed as well.
All 3 shows were good for the era, and they did a separate jams at each show as well. New speedway was epic. and this to me "sadly" was one of the last good shows after Brents passing I attended. there were others but this gave me hope,by 92-93-94 all hope was gone for what the GD could do.

I sang a little while and then flew on.

I was just getting into the Dead and was lucky enough to live in the Bay Area so I was on a roll by being ablr to see both the Dead and JGB. 53 times in just a few years. I remember the bumper sticker that said,"Who are the Grateful Dead and why to they keep following me?". I was also learning guitar so my mind had been eaten by all things Jerry and was just starting to get that there was something going on here. I had been obsessed by New Speedway Boogie for weeks, hearing it everywhere. Practicing it non stop and feeling that it was the perfect answer to the Gulf War debacle that had begun. I was on the way to the show with my friend Paul, who had introduced me to the Dead, and we were talking about possible set lists we were about to here and Paul said, "Well, what are we going to here?" I immediately answered,"New Speedway Boogie." at which point he broke out laughing out loud and said,"Man they haven't played that song in like 20 years!" I said I knew but I just could not get the song out of my head and insisted we were gonna hear it that night! So Paul, being a betting man said he would bet me $50 that would NOT play it! I said,"You're on!" and we shook on it. I loved sitting back with the tapers in section 112 and Paul liked to roam around and so he said I'll be back to get his $50 at set break and I said okay. We took our sacraments, hugged each other and parted ways. I struck up a conversation with one of the tapers and asked him if he thought we had chance of hearing NSB that night and he said, " That is so weird, I've been hearing that ALL WEEK and it was even the song that was playing when we turned off the car and headed in. Weird man!" Needless to say, at the end of the first set Paul came running up to me and said, "Holy fucking shit man!! How did you know that !?!?!" He then handed me a crisp $50, which I later used to get more sacraments of course! The Taper just leaned over and said "Good call Bro, Good call!" he then gave me his card and later mailed me a copy of the show. And at the end of the first set, he left the part in with Paul asking me how the fuck I knew it was going to happen. I treasure that tape to this day. The Fucking Grateful Dead. Nothing ever like them.

The first bay area shows with just Vinny. Bob's guitar is comically LOUD . I had a high school buddy from NY with a couple of his ski bum pal's from Utah in tow. We lined up early and got the first row up from the floor second isle Phil's side.
Bob's guitar was piercing during Bertha> Greatest. Althea had a unique jam in it my only complaint is Jerry's gtr too low in mix. The place was the emptiest I've ever seen it ... NOBODY in the upper bowl at all! Conversely it was the LOUDEST I've ever heard the crowd when they busted the speedway. Oh The cassidy is great as is the second set. Find me a better played New Speedway Boogie from ANY era. I dare you!

Trail user could not have said it better!!! I had an out of body experience during the Sugar Mags at this show and floated above the crowd!!

This is one of the best Dead Show I was ever at!! From Jerry going all out of the blue on us with the surprise 'Breakout' of the infamous 'New Speedway Boogie', to the incredible soul of Black Peter and the rollicking of Sugar Mags this show is a must listen!!

It did not hurt that this was 1 of only 2 times in the hundred some odd GD shows I went too that I had a Backstage Pass for though ; ) !!

cognitive dissonance.. look it up

If you filter experiences through your pre-existing worldview, then your mind will always be filtered by your own biases.

Feb shows are indeed usually below par.. but there are exceptions.. and this is certainly one.

This was a killer awesome show, with energy through the roof! I can personally attest, as I was there in great seats with excellent sightlines and sound.

China > Rider > Truckin > Fingers > Jam was sick-o. That's like a 21 minute Fangers with a Huge Outro Jam. Great stuff.

And yes, one of the best "breakouts" the boys ever did.. New Speedway Boogie came out of the blue in complete professional form... tight, rocking, well-sung, awesome guitar jams.. just fucking sweet. So sweet. What a great song for Jerry to bring back into rotation.

Killer Show from the Last Great Year. Enjoy It.

Is it just me or do Feb Dead shows always suck. Next...

One of the best 1990s versions of Black Peter make this a must-listen. Jerry is just whaling, much more rocking then typical sleepy versions. New Speedway is obviously another attraction here.

I bought a t-shirt commemorating this run even though I didn't see the shows. That's how much I love it.

The New Speedway is one of the great breakouts of all time but must be heard in the audience version to truly appreciate it. It just crackles with energy and Garcia really lets it rip. Sadly they would never play it this well again. In later versions Garcia always seemed to be holding back on it.

A great set two as well. Solid sound. Another fine contribution by the amazing Charlie Miller.

Solid Show to kick off 1991. The mix leaves a little to be desired with Weir's guitar being mixed WAY too loud. You can barely hear Jer's guitar and Vinnie's keys. Speedway is great though. I always loved the first set Speedways that occured sporadically throughout the next couple years like Knickerbocker 92 and Pine Knob 91.

The New Speedway and Black Peter are late-era Grateful Dead at their best! Invigorating! Check out the grunt ol' Jer lets out right after the accapella part of the "one way or the other" sing along. These old guys could rock when they wanted to!

Vince's keys are mixed waaay too high - often stepping on Jerry's guitar - still, it's not too hard to listen around them - and the all-around enthusiastic playing makes this show well worth the download.

This is a very nice show. Bertha opener is strong and the New Speedway Boogie was wonderful to hear again. The download is very clear, good board. Enjoy!

This show is famous for the New Speedway Boogie bust-out (a commentary on the Gulf War, it seemed at the time), but it also has some nifty second-set jamming. China > Rider and Crazy Fingers are particularly nice. It's a shame that Vince's keyboards are mixed as high they are, but they don't dampen the fun or the energy.